The Red Cross blood drive taking place on Thursday, June 4th is only the tip of the crimson iceberg as far as the ESA's charity plans at this year's E3. Along with the massive bloodletting (which requires donors sign up for an appointment at www.givelife.org using sponsor code "E3"), the ESA will also be holding events that benefit our military forces abroad and Los Angeles' homeless population.

Between now and May 14th the ESA is accepting entries for their E3 Expo 2009 T-shirt Contest. Designers can submit their entries to esa@theESA.com, with the winning design being unveiled on June 2nd. The shirts will be on sale at the show and via the E3 website, with a portion of the proceeds going towards The Midnight Mission, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides services for the area's homeless.

Finally, the ESA teams up with the non-profit military support organization "Pro vs. GI Joe", allowing attendees to record personalized video game challenges to U.S. troops overseas. Military personnel will be able to review and accept game challenges, giving them a much-needed break from action as part of their "GI Joe Throw" program.

I'll see if I can maybe donate a pint of blood or two while I'm there, but considering how busy the show is going to be for us I might need to hang on to what I've got.